Page 14 of Mistletoe Face Off

“We sure are,” I reply. “This is Holly Coleman and her daughter, Macy,” I say.

“It's great to meet you, Holly and Macy. I'm Daphne. I’m running this event today, which is why I look so frazzled right now. But thank you both for participating this afternoon.”

“You're more than welcome,” Holly replies.

“Let's get you all set up for the karaoke, shall we?” Daphne says, and we follow her to the stage where she shows us how to use the karaoke machine.

“How did you know my last name?” Holly asks.

Dang it! I messed up again.

“I, err, overheard you talking to some of those hockey guys earlier,” I reply, hoping she'll buy it.

I'm enjoying my anonymity as Santa with her, and I'm not sure how she'll react to knowing I'm actually Harrison Clarke. It's not like we didn't get on in high school or anything. We justled different lives. She was with the artsy crowd and I was with the jocks. But I always liked her.

Actually, more than that. I admit, I had a bit of a crush on her. She always looked so confident and put together, chatting excitedly with her newspaper buddies, so passionate about what she was talking about. It seemed as though she would never deign to bother with a guy like me, despite the fact our high school had a strong hockey team that I was a part of. I always felt someone like Holly would look down on me, someone who wasn’t that great at school, and really only good at one thing: hockey.

But something tells me it's better she does not know who I am—at least for now.

Her gorgeous face creases into a smile, and I know she’s bought my little white lie.

I'm off the hook.

Soon enough, Daphne has announced that Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, and one of the elves from the North Pole will be leading everyone in singing Christmas songs, and the first bars ofRudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeerring out around the hall.

The words flash up on a screen in front of us and Holly immediately begins to sing, her voice crisp, clear, and resonant. I watch her in awe, while Macy has an attack of the shies, and clings onto her leg. Holly places her hand on her daughter’s head to give her reassurance as she sings each line, the crowd joining in.

I’m sure that when she got here today she had no idea she would be dressed as Mrs. Claus and singing a song to a hall filled to the brim with people. But here she is, stepping up and showing us all how amazing she is, taking everything in her stride.

“You'll go down in his-tor-y,” she sings. Turning to me she adds, “Come on, Santa. Come help us sing about Rudolph, your red-nosed reindeer.”

I take a step closer to her and the microphone, say a little prayer for the ears of the audience, and sing my first line. Predictably, my voice is flatter than a pancake on a steam roller, and I can almost feel the collective wince among the audience.

But Holly is smiling encouragingly at me, which gives me the conviction to carry on.

By the time we get to the end of the song, everyone applauds, and then the next song starts up. No rest for the wicked—or the tone deaf.

“If you lift your eyebrows while you're singing it can help your voice sound more in tune,” Holly says to me.

“Really? I never knew.”

“I bet there's not a lot of call for singing as Santa usually.”

Nor in the NHL.

The words toFrosty the Snowmanappear on the screen and I do my best not to butcher each line. Holly, of course sings beautifully, Macy still wrapped around her leg, peeking out every now and then at the crowd before burying her face in her mom’s skirt once more.

As Holly sings about Frosty’s adventures, I crouch down and to say to Macy, “Do you want me to pick you up so you can sing along with your mom? I bet you've got a pretty great singing voice, too.”

She pulls her lips into a line, shaking her head.

“Are you sure?” I ask. “You don’t have to sing. I can just hold you up next to your mom. She’s doing such a great job.”

She chews on her lip for a moment before she gives a nod.

“Great choice, Macy the Elf,” I say as I sweep her up into my arms, winning the most beautiful smile from her mom.

Holly and I sing the rest of the song together, while Macy clutches onto my beard, and when the next song flashes up, Holly says into the microphone, “How about we make this one a duet between me and Santa?”

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